Many industrial operations generate large quantities of water containing silica. For instance, chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) processes, widely used in the manufacture of semiconductor devices, produce waste water streams containing high quantities of silica. CMP processes are used to polish the silicon-based wafer surface during various stages of semiconductor manufacture. Waste streams containing the polishing slurry and silica are produced during CMP. The silica must be removed before the water can be safely discharged to the environment or recycled within the facility.
Dissolved silica in industrial cooling water is a major problem. Silica is a scale forming material commonly found in cooling water which can foul heat exchangers, pipes, valves, pumps, and boilers. No known inhibitor, chelating agent or dispersant exists which will significantly control silica's tendency to form scale. When the silica concentration in a cooling water system exceeds its solubility limit of roughly about 150 to about 200 milligrams per liter, silica polymerizes to form scale. It may also react with multivalent cations, such as magnesium and calcium, to form scale.
Researchers have examined many different methods of removing soluble silica, including the use of ferric sulfate, calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, magnesium sulfate, magnesium oxide, aluminum hydroxide, sodium aluminate and activated alumina. Activated alumina has received much attention in processes for removing silica. See, U.S. Pat. No. 4,276,180 to Matson and U.S. Pat. No. 5,512,181 to Matchett. Other aluminum containing compounds such as sodium aluminate, aluminum sulfate, and aluminum chloride in an alkaline environment (pH greater than 8) have been used to remove soluble and colloidal silica. See, U.S. Pat. No. 5,453,206 to Browne. However, these processes are not capable of processing large volumes of wastewater through high flow mechanical systems because of degradation of particles and particulates below 5 micron in size.
Microfiltration systems have been considered to remove silica contaminants from wastewater. However, traditional microfiltration membranes having a pore size of about 0.5 microns rapidly clog with silica that was precipitated with conventional inorganic coagulants. Such particulates are consistently less than 1.0 micron in size. Moreover, the inorganic coagulants cannot aid in the precipitation of microfine colloidal silica. The partially formed floc will also deform and block the membrane pores, preventing flow.
There is, therefore, a need in the art for improved processes for removing silica from wastewater.
Such processes and systems are disclosed and claimed herein.